Dead Squad: Season 2, book 4 - Inferno
by mandowriter
Summary: The family has been shattered. Taler had gone and Kyr'am has failed as a father. The future is dark and uncertain for both of our heroes as they struggle to find their way as a son and a father. But a bigger cloud is looming on the horizon as old enemies conspire against them, and are preparing to scorch the lands to get their revenge. Has their time run out?
1. Chapter 1

**Part 1**

 **Nightfall**

 _Polaris J370 civilian cruiser "Wrath of Telos"_

 _Hydra Corp vessel_

 _Orbit around Kessel_

The Nautolan slaver twitched violently as he hung from his neck, two large furry fists clenched tightly around his throat, squeezing ever tighter. His big black eyes stared straight into the eyes of the Wookie that held it up, his words silent, almost a whisper. His hands grabbed and pulled at the wrists of the giant, furry creature, trying to free himself, his legs swinging and kicking wildly beneath him. The Wookie growled as he held him inches from his face.

"As you can see," a silent, cold voice spoke from the back of the room. "When someone does not do as I ask, I am forced to act irrationally. I'm an agreeable man, when things are done to my, admittedly high, standard. And I expect them to be carried out as such."

A hand reached out from the shadows into a pool of light that was spread across the desk at the rear of the cabin, and the thick fingers grabbed hold of a glass that was sat there. The glass was lifted into the darkness where the voice had come from and a flash of sharp white teeth appeared in the gloom as the hidden figure drank from it. The Nautolan's movements were becoming less and less visible, his breathing almost non-existent.

"However, even though you have failed to hold up your end of the bargain, I feel like being lenient," the voice said quietly. Without even a word being spoken, the Wookie slackened his grip, and the Nautolan fell to the floor in a crumpled heap, wheezing for air as they grabbed at their throat. The figure behind the desk rose and stepped out from the shadows, two of their arms folded behind their back, another carrying a cane, and the fourth held in front of their mouth drinking from the glass. The cranial plates glinted in the dim light and as they stepped down off the raised platform to stand in front of the green skinned slaver, they sighed heavily.

Prazon Kexx, the Besalisk regional head of Hydra Corp. took a moment to savour the taste of his drink before he continued. It was very pleasant. It had a sweet taste that reminded him of the scented baths of Alderaan, and the dewy sunrises of Felucia. It was an expensive drink, but he had always had expensive tastes. His suit was woven from the finest Hapan silks, and the cane he carried was carved from an ancient Wroshyr tree.

Squatting down on his haunches, he brought himself level with the still coughing Nautolan and looked down at him with disappointed eyes.

"I really did not want it to come to this," he said, shaking his head. "But when I came to you with an order for pure Spice, you promised me that you could supply me with as much as I wanted. Now, I have paid you for two shipments that have not arrived at my distributors, and every cycle that goes by I am making a loss."

"I'm sorry," the Nautolan managed to whisper, his voice hoarse as the breath slowly flooded back into his lungs. He had managed to get himself onto his knees, though he was still bent double with his hands on the floor supporting him. "But production has been slow," he added.

"Really?" Prazon said with an unbelieving sigh. Slowly he stood up. "That's funny, because I've had Turg here watching the mines for the past week, and he has seen at least three fully loaded freighters leave the system." The Wookie stood behind the slaver growled silently, baring his teeth.

Prazon returned to the desk and picked up a data pad with one of his folded arms, still nursing the drink just a little while longer. The Wookie reached down and grabbed hold of the Nautolan by the arms and dragged him to his feet, holding him firmly in place.

"I also have this copy of the mines outputs for the last month," he said, holding it out in front of the slaver. "It looks to me as though your productivity has increased lately. But you just told me that production has been slow." He took another sip of his drink. "Now one of you has to be lying. Which one could it be?"

A look of fear and panic began to spread across the Nautolan's face as he realised the severity of the situation.

"I… Umm…" he stammered.

"I think our little discussion has come to an end," Prazon said calmly, draining the last few drops of his drink. The glass now empty, he looked down at the Nautolan and shook his head.

With a sudden flash, and in one fluid motion, he smashed the glass against the side of the slavers head – shards of it slicing into his green skin, one piece cutting through his eye – and then drew his hand back and plunged the jagged remains of the bottom of the glass into the slaver's chest, twisting it like a drill. The Nautolan screamed in unbelievable agony as the shards tore into his heart, his head tails flailing wildly like the death-throws of a snake. His eyes widened in fear as he coughed up blood, and his whole body convulsed.

Prazon never once let go of the glass.

"No-one double crosses me," he whispered.

The Nautolan looked into his eyes and his mouth fell silent. His body fell limp and the tendrils at the back of his head stopped moving. His body leaned forward onto the glass and his chin came to rest against his now still chest.

"Dispose of him," Prazon said quietly, finally letting go of the glass.

Taking out a napkin, he began to wipe the blood from his hand as the Wookie dragged away the dead slaver, his heels scraping across the deck. He had just finished wiping his hands when a light began to blink on his desk. Walking over to it, he was about to press the button beneath the light when it activated itself. He watched as a beam of light erupted from the ceiling onto a circular table at the side of his office.

He found himself looking at the holographic image of a Neimoidian.

"Prazon Kexx," the Neimoidian said, his voice slimy and unpleasant. "It is a pleasure and an honour to be speaking to you."

"And who may I ask am I addressing?" Prazon asked, wiping the last few drops of blood from his fingers.

"You do not know me, but I have some information that might be beneficial to you regarding a mutual acquaintance."

"Oh yes?" Prazon replied, feigning interest as he put the napkin back into his pocket. "Disregarding the fact that you have somehow circumvented my security protocols and bypassed my personal assistant – who will now pay with his life for not preventing you from speaking to me – what price, may I ask, would you put on this information?"

"There's no price," the Naimoidian said, with a smile, or what he believed would pass for a smile. This instantly put Prazon on the defensive. "Call it a friendly favour, to be returned in kind." Prazon never liked being in debt to anyone, least of all, a credit-counting backstabber like the Neimoidians.

"Who might this acquaintance be?" he asked cautiously.

"A bounty hunter," the Neimoidian grinned. Prazon felt his brow furrow. "He goes by the name of Kyr'am Galaar."

* * *

 _Outskirts of Keldabe_

 _Capitol city of Mandalore_

 _Mandalore System_

The speeder bikes hum faded quickly as Taler brought the vehicle to a halt on the rise to the west of the capitol. The rain had stopped many miles back, and the wind that had whipped past Taler as he had accelerated across the open plains of Mandalore had dried his clothes quite thoroughly. In the gloom of the setting sun, he could see the lights beginning to flare into life around the edge of the city, the large neon sign for MandalMotors like a beacon on the side of the hundred foot tower.

How anyone could call this place a city was beyond him. In his brief time as a free man, he had seen many planets and visited many cities – from Cato Neimoidia to Nar Shaddaa. But this place did not compare to any of them.

It was a ramshackle place, with almost no consistency in design or materials. Durasteel boxes were pressed up against log cabins, and tall industrial factories were flanked by ancient shops and huts. Beyond the rise and fall of buildings, the forest wrapped itself around the walls and draped itself across the mountain like a cape. Below him he could see the bend in the Kelita River as it swept almost all the way around the edge of the city, the rock upon which it was built revealing its fort-like heritage.

It was rapidly getting dark, and the sun was setting quickly. Crowds of people were making their way into the city along the western road, speeders travelling along with wooden carts being pulled by pack animals. Taler did not know the reason, but he knew that the crowd could offer him some anonymity. Pulling the scarf he wore around his neck up over his mouth and nose, and tugging the hood over his jet black hair, he kicked the engines back into life and shot down into the valley that followed the river. It would bring him close enough to the road to allow him to slip into the city unnoticed.

The speeder bike ducked down the small cliff and bounced lightly as he brought it level just before it hit the water. He steered it along the winding rapids, kicking up a dusting of rain in his wake, the fading light reflecting through the droplets. As he reached the nearest point to the road, he leaned sideways and dropped the speeder bike in behind a slow moving wagon that was loaded with wooden crates. The wheels clattered noisily as it rumbled along the uneven road, and the beast at the front wheezed as the sloping road grew steeper, heading up into the city.

Feathering the throttle, Taler lifted the speeder above it and dashed forwards, passing the farmer who walked alongside the beast who paid him no attention. He must have been used to being passed by speeders.

Passing under the archway that stretched over the road, Taler slipped into the city and followed the road towards the centre. From there he could find a place for the evening, and find a way off the planet by the following evening. As the road steadily climbed up the side of the hill, Taler took in the feel of the place.

For a city that was filled with Mandalorians, there were very few actual bounty hunters there. He passed a few posters and a few bulletin boards with holographic heads spinning slowly on them, but there were very few people actually looking at them. Even when he passed the Guilds building, there was only a small crowd waiting outside.

Every Mandalorian was trained to be a warrior, and when the call came, the entire planet would go to war, but not all of them made their living off mercenary work. It was another of the great lies that had spread throughout the galaxy about the one time nomadic race.

At the centre of the city, he found a cantina – the _Oyu'baat_. It claimed to be the oldest cantina on the planet, and from the sound of things, it was a very popular one. Maybe a little too popular for Taler's needs. He had to remain anonymous, and that meant finding a place where he would not be recognised. On any other planet that would not have been a problem. But it just so happened that he had the face of the most famous man on Mandalore – Jango Fett.

Making sure his scarf was pulled up tightly across his face, he turned away and began searching through the city.

Half an hour later, he had found a nice little cantina off the main streets. It was quiet, and barely anyone inside. The only people he could see were an old human male who appeared to be blind sitting in the far corner, and two Rodian freighter pilots who were so drunk they would probably barely remember anything the next day.

He had secured the speeder bike out the back in a lockup, and with his canvas back slung over his shoulder, he had slipped inside and arranged for a bed for the evening – the owner had not even asked him to remove his scarf. He had led him up to the room and had even brought him up a bowl of nerf strew. It had the texture of aiwha blubber, and smelt like a five day old carcass, so most of it was left on the small table beneath the window. Sitting on the edge of the small bunk that took up most of the small room, his kit bag sitting on the floor beside the door, he turned to look out through the small window. The stars were hidden by the clouds that had begun to roll in, and streaks of water trickled down the window panes as it began to rain.

It reminded him of Kamino.

He turned away from the window and lay down on his side on the bunk, not bothering to remove his boots or clothes. His training as a soldier had made it essential to sleep whenever he could. They had all learnt to sleep anywhere, no matter how uncomfortable.

But no matter how hard he tried, Taler could not sleep. His eyes refused to close, and his mind was whispering to him in the darkness. He could not hear the words it was saying, but he could feel the sense of guilt and anger. The voice shifted around him, screaming silently, then whispering as loudly as a hurricane. He had to get away from here.

But where would he go?

Pulling out one of the holstered blasters and looking at it in the dim light, he turned it over and looked at the underside of the handle where he had carved his brother's name into the grip.

"What am I doing, Jay?" he asked. He still had no idea where he could go that he would not be found or hunted by the Republic. He did not even know if he could get a ship off the planet without them asking questions that he could not answer.

Pushing the voices to the back of his mind, and letting the sound of the rain against the window wash over him, he closed his eyes and tried to sleep.


	2. Chapter 2

**Part 2**

 **Clear as day**

 _"_ _Cabur Aliit"_

 _Mandalore_

 _Mandalore System_

The sun began to rise over the distant horizon, and Kyr'am felt the orange glow brush across his face as it swept down across the mountains to the north of the bunker. Stretching out in front of him he could see the unending forest that surrounded the hidden base, the top of the Republic Consular class cruiser just visible above the canopy as it sat in the centre of the landing pad. The enviro-drives had been all but deactivated, with only a thin mist draped over the tops of the trees to hide the base from high level observers. Kyr'am knew now that it was pointless. Relnar already knew where they were.

He had been sat at the top of the mountain since sunset the night before, watching the horizon for any signs of Taler. In his heart, he knew that the forest was too dense to see anything moving beneath it, and that the darkness would be too thick with the stars and the moon hidden by the clouds that had drifted across the valley with the waning moments of daylight. Night was complete out here, and as the rain had begun to fall, he pulled his coat tight around himself and sat in the shelter of a rocky ledge. His sniper rifle tucked down by his side, he had held the removable scope in his hand and stared out into the blackness, waiting for the day to return.

Howls and screeches echoed up from the forest beneath him, the nocturnal predators hunting for their next meal, while the prey scurried for cover. For most of his life he had always understood the hunters better - tracking, following, controlling their target, drawing them in and then springing the trap. The shadows had always been his ally, and the silence had been his friend.

Now he could feel the fear of the prey. Now he could sense the universe closing in around him. The shadows hid the eyes of those who watched him, and the silence deafened him to the hunters who were getting ever closer.

But the fear that had a grip on his heart was one of his own making: the fear of a father who had failed his son. The rest of the galaxy would not understand the pain he felt, because to them Taler had not been his son. Yes, he had adopted him, but there was no connection. The beings of the galaxy could never understand the Mandalorian way.

 _Aliit ori'shya tal'din_. It meant Family is more than blood, and it was the creed that all Mandalorians lived by. The children that they adopted as their own would mean no less to them than those they had sired. And as deeply as he would have loved any child born of his own flesh, he loved Taler. And it was that love that was tearing his heart asunder.

"I thought I would find you up here," a growl-like voice said softly from his right. Kyr'am quickly cleared his throat and used the heel of his palm to wipe away the tears that had trickled down his aging, cold cheeks. Around the corner, the heavily furred hand of G'hrunk grabbed hold of the rocky wall, and the giant creature ducked into view.

"Just keeping an eye out," Kyr'am said simply. He did not say who or what he was watching for.

"Thought that was what you got that droid of yours for," G'hrunk said slowly, sitting down on the rock beside him, groaning a little exaggeratedly to imply old age.

Kyr'am knew that he was getting older, the grey fur that covered his body had been a deep brown when they had first met all those years ago. But he also knew that the giant beast was still as agile and nimble a fighter as he had been even before his time in the gladiatorial pits. It was a ruse, a ploy to hide his true abilities. G'hrunk had an incredible ability to blend into the crowd and vanish. No mean feat for a being his size. People would pay him no care. They would disregard him as an old and broken beast, half blind and not worth their time. This was their first, and usually last, mistake.

"Sparky has issues," Kyr'am said simply.

"Don't we all," the Whiphid growled, leaning back against the wall as though reclining on some comfortable sofa.

He reached into the pocked that hung from his belt and pulled out a small package wrapped in foil. He handed it Kyr'am who looked at it for a moment before taking it from him. It felt warm and soft.

"Madhi insisted I bring that to you," G'hrunk said casually, turning back to look out over the forest. "Said you had to eat something warm."

"She actually said that?" Kyr'am asked, a fake-surprised tone in his voice.

"Well, not so much said as implied," G'hrunk added, a little smile bending the edge of his mouth and creasing the corners of his eyes. Kyr'am opened up the foil wrapping and looked down at a pile of Nerf strips and chunks of bread. The Nerf strips were still hot, wisps of heat rising from them and lingering in the air, the scent of the cooked meat flooding into Kyr'am's nose. It was a sense of home, of comfort. He longed to enjoy it, but it just reinforced the opinion in his mind that he did not deserve it.

"I messed up, old friend," he whispered, his shoulder sagging and his eyes falling to look at his feet. "I failed as a father. I let him down."

"You did not fail as a father," G'hrunk said softly.

"I did," Kyr'am insisted. "I expected him to trust me when I did not put enough trust in him to tell him what was in the cargo. He had a right to know, more of a right than anyone else because of his past. And I took that away. I did what every other person in his life has ever done and took away his choice."

"But you also gave him more than anyone else," G'hrunk argued. "You gave him freedom. You took him in and gave him a chance. You gave him a life. Give him time. He might need a bit of space to find himself, but he will come around."

"He deserves more than I could ever have given him," Kyr'am said sadly.

"You've given more than anyone could ever ask. Not just to Taler, but to all of us. Dugg, Madhi, Juel,… and me." G'hrunk said finally.

Slowly, he stood up and stepped out from under the cover of the rocky ledge.

"Don't let one mistake undo all of that good work," G'hrunk added. His furry frame vanished around the corner, and Kyr'am was left once more watching over the forest.

Almost an hour had passed before he allowed himself to stop watching the forest and finally eat some of his now cold breakfast. He was about to take a bite from one of the Nerf strips when a soft beeping emerged from the inside of his helmet that was sitting on the rock beside him.

He lifted the helmet single-handed a held it up in front of him, tilted in such a way to allow him to see the visor without putting it on. Tapping the controls on his wrist, he activated the comlink. Sparky's wild squeaks and whistles cut across the helmet speakers, and he was instantly glad he was not wearing it as it would probably have deafened him. Words began to scroll across the front of the visor as the software he had installed translated his electronic ramblings, and as they came to the end of the sentence, Kyr'am's face turned white.

Jumping to his feet and sending the foil package flying from his hand, he slipped the helmet onto his head and ran down the path back towards the bunker.

"He's here…" was all he could say.

* * *

 _Keldabe_

 _Capitol city of Mandalore_

 _Mandalore System_

Taler walked along the streets of the capitol, his scarf pulled up over his mouth and nose, and his hood pulled down low to cover the rest of his face in shadows. The sun was lifting high into the sky and even though it shone brightly, the cold wind that rippled down the streets sent a shiver down his spine. His pack was slung over his shoulder, the armour plates inside clattering softly against each other. In just civilian clothes he knew he could pass as any other traveller looking for passage, but after a lifetime spent wearing commando armour, he felt dangerously exposed. His cybernetic hand never moved far from the holstered pistol at his side.

He had left the speeder bike back at the cantina, locked up in the small shack behind it. If he had no luck finding transport off the planet, he planned to return to the cantina and try again the next day. But if he did make it off Mandalore, then he had left instructions with the cantina owner to send an encrypted message to Sparky with the location of the speeder bike to allow them to recover it. It was only fair, he thought. He could have left his bag at the cantina as well and simply returned to get it when he had found his ticket off-world, but his kit was all he had left of his family – his real family – and there was no way he would leave that around for an opportunist to steal.

Edging out around the corner of a narrow street, he emerged onto the busy central road through the city. Suddenly he was surrounded by the hustle and bustle of a busy street, traders stalls clogging the road on either side, and the people who wondered between them pressed tightly against each other, the crowd moving slowly like the flow of a river. Voices barked at one another over the chatter of the crowd, offering deals that outdid their competitors.

Taler did not care for any of it. His mind was already reacting to the situation the only way he knew how, the way it had been trained to react. He was analysing the terrain for possible escape routes, watching the people for any signs of threat, and constantly on the look-out for anything he might be able to use to gain the upper hand.

He felt a burning feeling at the base of his skull, and a tingling sensation rippling through his spine. He had felt it before. It was his body telling him that he was being watched. Keeping as calm as he could, he turned to look at a stall on his left, not even taking in the collection of trinkets that were spread across the linen-covered table. Out of the corners of his eyes, he watched the crowd, the sea of faces constantly changing. He could see no one behind him that was paying him undue attention.

Maybe he was being paranoid. Shaking it off, but unable to forget it completely, he slipped back into the flow of the crowd, though now weaving in and out, and taking a longer route than he had planned, just in case he was being tailed.

He wondered in and out of every cantina he passed, asking the barkeep if there were any pilots that could give him a ride off-world. There were some in every bar, but none of them seemed too keen on the idea of taking him. Maybe it was the fact he hid his face? Maybe it was because he did not care where it was he was going? He was offering them enough credits, and the thought had even crossed his mind to buy his own ship. But then that would have left him with a very big trail to cover.

There was only one cantina left to try, and he had been hoping to avoid it – the _Oyu'baat_. It was the one place where his face would be instantly recognised, so he would have to be extra careful to keep it hidden. He felt the same sinister feeling he had felt earlier wash over him as he stood outside the cantina – the same burning at the base of his skull. Turning to look back over his shoulder, he scanned his eyes across the market place and thought he saw a figure in the crowd looking straight at him, a Boushh helmet hiding their face. But as the crowd flowed once more, the figure vanished. The feeling did not go away, but he pushed it back down, focusing on what he had to do.

Hauling his kit bag more securely onto his shoulder and making sure the scarf was pulled up high over his face, he hunched his shoulders and stepped through the door.

The noise changed almost instantly from a busy street market to a raucous cantina. Music played loudly in the back, laughter bellowed over the clatter of glasses and tankards, and the murmur of conversation rippled beneath it all. Edging his way towards the bar, he found himself standing near a group of men who were talking loudly. He ordered a drink and waited for it to arrive.

Three men walked into the cantina, and their entrance caused enough commotion for an eerie quiet to wash over the bar. Taler turned towards them and noticed a sigil on the side of their sleeves. He recognised it instantly, and a cold sensation flooded his body.

Hydra Corp.

He turned casually back towards the bar as his drink arrived, and he kept his shoulder hunched as he drank. The three newcomers waited for the last of the chatter to simmer down and then the largest one stepped forwards.

"We are looking for men to help us with a problem," he announced, a sinister smirk crossing his face. Taler already felt his blood beginning to run colder. "We have a compound which needs to be raided. There might be some opposition which may need to be 'handled'." Taler did not like the way he emphasised the last word. "You will of course be handsomely compensated for your troubles."

A thick silence fell over the cantina when he finished speaking. Some looked at him as though he was crazy, others looked at him with a glint in their eyes. The only person who did not look at him, was Taler. That was the first mistake.

One of the larger thugs broke away and shoved his way through the crowd towards Taler.

"How about you?" he said pointing at Taler, his words more a threat than a question.

"Just here for a drink," Taler said casually, hiding the adrenalin and anger within him, not even turning to look at the thug. His right arm hidden by his side, he slipped his hand to the holster on his thigh and unclipped the strap around his brother's blaster.

"You scared of a little fighting?" the thug laughed. He leaned in so close that Taler could smell the putrid stench of his breath as he spoke. "Thought you Mandos were meant to be hard?" he added, grabbing hold of Taler by the collar and hoisting him up in front of him. The Cantina had gone even quieter than before as they watched the scene play out. This was the kind of attention that Taler was hoping to avoid.

"We are," Taler said quietly. "We are also smart." In one fluid motion he drew the blaster from his holster and pressed the barrel into the thug's stomach. He angled it quickly and pulled the trigger, the blaster bolt tearing through the thugs flesh, burning its way out the other side and slamming into the shoulder of one of the other Hydra Corp. soldiers. The big thug dropped Taler onto his feet as he slumped to the ground in a crumpled heap, smoke still coughing from the hole in his stomach. The second soldier who he had hit was slumped against the wall screaming in agony. And the third was half way to taking out his own blaster when another shot tore across the bar and slotted right between his eyes.

Taler looked around for the source of the shot, but was half way around when the door to the cantina opened and ten more heavily built Hydra Corp. soldiers rushed in.

The cantina erupted into chaos, blaster bolts flying through the air above their heads, and the patrons of the cantina fighting back, charging towards them. Taler was almost swept up in the mass when a hand grabbed hold of him by the shoulder and sent him flying across the bar. He slammed into the wall behind it, and tumbled heavily to the floor.

His head shook and his eyes were blurry for a moment, but as they focused again, he rolled onto his back and was about to get up when another figure leapt over the bar and landed in front of him. They crouched down and pinned him to the floor. Taler reached for his blaster, but the stranger put their foot on his hand to stop him. They crouched down and Taler looked right into their eyes.

They were his own.

"Bad move, commando," they growled.


	3. Chapter 3

**Part 3**

 **Hunters become the hunted**

 _The Oyu'baat_

 _Keldabe_

 _Mandalore_

 _Mandalore System_

Taler was thrown for the second time that morning, only this time it was into a pile of packing crates that had been left against the wall behind the cantina. The hood that had covered his face slipped off, and the mask across his mouth was ripped away by the impact. He was exposed now. His kit bag fell noisily onto the floor, and as he turned to look back at the door through which he had been pushed so forcefully, he saw the figure who had thrown him emerge, the sounds of a mass brawl stopping suddenly as he slammed the door closed behind him.

Taler's instinctive reaction was to reach for his blaster on his thigh, but before he had even had time to begin pulling from its holster, the stranger had drawn their own blaster and were holding it in front of his face.

"Don't even think about it," the stranger said.

"What do you want?" Taler said acidly, the feeling of being outdone was a difficult one to process. He had been trained to be the best, better than any other sentient being out there, with the only exception being the ARC troopers. And here he was, out-drawn, and out-thought by some two bit gun-for-hire behind a brawling tavern.

"Reach the chest plate out of the bag," the stranger said, flicking the barrel of his pistol towards the canvas bag.

Taler felt his pulse quicken. They knew what was inside his kit bag. But how could he? How could anyone know what was in the bag? He had not opened it since he had put his armour in it on the Trailbreaker. He must have been taking too long to respond because the figure seemed to get angry and reached for the canvas bag, ripping open the top and stepping back once more.

"I said get the chest plate out," he repeated angrily.

Taler slowly crouched down, not once taking his eyes off the figure who still held a blaster towards him. Reaching into the pack, he felt his hand grip the side of the chest plate and pulled it free. He was about to toss it towards the figure, hoping for a moment of distraction to attack him when the figure shook his head.

"Ah," he said cautiously. "Don't even think about it." Taler decided to wait it out. He lowered the plate to the floor in front of him. "Turn it over and open the bio-monitor."

The situation was rapidly getting confusing. The armour had run out of power long ago, and even the last few moments of energy he had used when he had activated the HUD had long since evaporated away. Doing as he was told, he opened the small box that was located on the left side of the chest plate. Inside he saw wires and relays.

"Back away," the figure ordered quickly. Taler stood up and backed away. The figure dropped the blaster from his face and pointed it directly at the chest plate. With a quick tap of his finger, he fired two blaster bolts into the bio-monitor, the circuits exploding. Taler lifted his hand to shield his eyes as a shower of sparks erupting from its centre. The smell of ozone, and the stench of charred plaststeel filled Taler's nostils.

"What the…?" he began to say, lowering his hand, but he was cut off by the figure.

"You were being tracked," the figure said calmly, his blaster remaining down. Now that it was not being pointed at his face, Taler finally had a chance to look at it. His eyes widened. It was a DC-15s blaster pistol, identical to the ones he carried in memory of his brothers.

"What do you want?" Taler said suspiciously. He was no longer being held at gun point, but that did not mean he was still not in danger.

"Those men you just killed were part of a much bigger problem," the figure stated. "A whole army of Hydra Corp soldiers have just touched down due east of Keldabe, and they made a beeline for this place. They have other business on Mandalore, and I don't like the idea of that many _aruetiise_ sniffing around in our back yard."

"They are after me?" Taler asked.

"No, not you," the figure said.

"But you said I was being tracked," Taler said confused. Nothing was making sense to him anymore.

"They aren't the ones tracking you," the figure said darkly. "There are bigger, more dangerous forces looking for you, and you would do well to stay hidden, Taler."

The figure knew his name. Taler reacted instantly, his hand dropping to his holstered blaster. The figure shot a single round, aiming from the hip, the bolt slamming into Taler's cybernetic hand and knocking it away from the blaster on his thigh.

"I told you not to do that," the figure warned again. "I thought Kal taught you better than that?"

"Who are you?" Taler demanded finally. The figure knew his name, they knew that he was a commando, and they knew Kal Skirata, the Mandalorian who had seen him and his squad mated through all of his training. He had had enough.

The figure looked at him for a moment in silence. Slowly, they placed the blaster they held in their hand back into the holster on their hip and reached up for the hood. Pulling it back, Taler felt his heart come to a screeching halt. He was looking at his own face, his own eyes looking back at him with anger and sympathy.

"I'm A'den Skirata," he said calmly, "and you need to listen to me. We don't have much time."

* * *

 _"_ _Cabur Aliit"_

 _Mandalore_

Kyr'am broke out from the cover of the forest into the damp air that had settled over the landing pad. Fine rain was falling from the layer of mist that was sat above the treetops, covering everything in a fine layer of moisture. He could already see figures standing beneath the hulls of the Trailbreaker and the Stormchaser, and a small, dome-headed droid was rocking from side to side anxiously at the top of the ramp that led down to the bunker entrance.

"Sparky," Kyr'am yelled, not breaking his pace as he ran across the permacrete landing pad. "Enviro-drives up to eight percent, NOW!" The little droid spun around and rolled quickly down the ramp, vanishing into the darkened doorway.

Kyr'am made a beeline for the Trailbreaker, a familiar figure standing at the base of the loading ramp. Juel did not look at him as he approached. His eyes were half closed, fixed on the sky above them as he seemed to be focusing on something.

"What can you hear, Juel?" Kyr'am asked, taking his helmet off quickly once he was under the shelter of the hull. The Sullustan's brow creased as he tilted his head listening to the sounds that rippled beneath the rain.

"Four ships, one large in orbit, three smaller ones to the west, approaching fast," Juel said in an almost whisper.

"How long?" Kyr'am asked, his voice emotionless, hiding the fear that still clung to his chest.

"Fifteen kliks out," Juel said. His eyelids fluttered and he tipped his head another way. "One's breaking off, sweeping around to the south."

"They're trying to surround us," Kyr'am said. He turned away from Juel who remained silent as he listened, and ran across the Consular class cruiser that was sitting across the landing pad from his own ship. "Dugg," he yelled.

From beneath the hull, the purple armoured Mandalorian emerged, grabbing hold of the loading ramp hydraulics and swinging himself toward Kyr'am quickly.

"Three ships inbound, two west, one south west on a pincer arc. Unknown number of personnel. Ten minutes max," he said. Dugg nodded and looked back up into the loading bay of the Stormchaser.

"Double time," he barked. "Let's get those supplies loaded.

Kyr'am turned back to look at Juel who still stood against the port side landing strut of the Corellian freighter. He was listening intently, but he had now turned his head so that one of his ears was aimed back towards the bunker. Without even needing to think, Kyr'am knew that he was listening out for any sounds that Haze might make. Kyr'am knew what it meant to care about someone else more than yourself.

"Juel," Kyr'am said clearly. Juel turned suddenly to look at Kyr'am, as though he had not been expecting to hear him. He was distracted, that was obvious. "Get yourself and Haze into the Stormchaser and prep her for take off."

"But, she's still hurt," Juel said, a crease of concern crossing his face.

"Madhi," Kyr'am called out, seeing the tall female Mando emerging from the bunker. "Is Haze well enough to be moved?" She stopped and looked at him for a moment, then nodded. Kyr'am nodded back. "Get her onto your ship and secured down, at the first sign of trouble, I want you to clear out. Keep them safe, you hear me?" Madhi nodded again, this time more reluctantly. She placed the crate she was carrying on the floor and turned back towards the bunker. Juel watched her go, a look of desperation crossing his face.

"Go and help her," Kyr'am said softly, but with enough force to sound like an order. Juel looked back at him for a moment before he turned and ran after Madhi.

Kyr'am drew out a communicator from his belt and began speaking into it, his helmet still in his hand by his side.

"Sparky," he barked. "Hurry up with the enviro-drives then get to the Trailbreaker and begin launch prep. I want us ready to take off in five minutes." An irritated screeching burst back across the comlink, but Kyr'am did not listen to the droids complaints. He shut it off and slipped it back into his belt.

Dugg emerged once more from the loading ramp of the Stormchaser, the large figure of G'hrunk behind him.

"We've got as much supplies as we can loaded into the ship," Dugg said, running over to stand beside Kyr'am. "There's enough room for all of us on the ship. It is faster than yours you know," he added with a lopsided grin.

"I know," Kyr'am said without a hint of mirth. "That's why you're taking everyone with you. The minute they get too close, you take off and you leave this place for dust. I'll keep them distracted here, and then I'll try and draw them away."

"That doesn't seem like a very well thought out plan," Dugg said, his brow creasing.

"It doesn't matter," Kyr'am said sharply. "That's the plan."

"Well I don't like it," Dugg said.

"You don't have to like it, just do as you're told."

"You're not the boss of me, old man," Dugg said angrily.

"No, but this is my mess, and I'm not going to put you or anyone else in the firing line for me," Kyr'am growled.

"Forget it," Dugg yelled. "It's not happening."

Kyr'am had had enough. He reached out and grabbed hold of Dugg's armour. Picking him up, he swung him around and slammed him up against the landing strut of the Stromchaser, Dugg's feet dangling beneath him.

"This is not a negotiation," Kyr'am hissed. "Get everyone on your ship, and make for space while we still have time. I'll keep their attention here and give you as much time as I can." Dugg looked down into his eyes and for a moment looked like he was going to try and argue again. G'hrunk, who had been standing back watching it all unfold stepped forwards and placed a hand on Kyr'am's shoulder.

"We will meet you at Rishi in three days," G'hrunk said softly. "Make sure you are not late."

The softness of his words swept through Kyr'am, and he slowly lowered Dugg back to the ground, releasing his grip on his armour. Dugg looked at him for a moment longer before reluctantly turning away and walking back up the loading ramp.

Kyr'am turned away from the Stormchaser and began heading across the landing pad towards the bunker. Madhi walked up the ramp towards him, her Nexu leaping and bounding along beside her. Behind her, carrying the half-awake slice hound in his arms, it's head peeking out from the blanket that had been wrapped around it was Juel. They walked past Kyr'am and he watched them disappear into the Stormchaser.

The rain began to fall in heavier and heavier droplets, the wind swirling up into hurricane strength speeds around them. The clouds above bubbled and boiled with rage, the gloom growing darker by the second.

"You know that you can't keep them away alone?" G'hrunk said softly beside him. Kyr'am turned to look at him.

"I'm not going to be alone," he said.

* * *

 _Keldabe_

"They're going after Kyr'am?" Taler cried, anger and fear flooding through his body like lava.

"Turns out someone sent an anonymous message to the Hydra Corp big-wigs telling them that a certain 'dead' Mandalorian was still alive and well, and living it up here on Mandalore," A'den said quickly, his eyes constantly scanning the crowd around them as they dipped in and out of the back alleys of the city, working their way back towards the cantina where Taler had stashed the speeder bike. "They weren't too pleased to find out they had been duped."

"I have to do something," Taler said desperately, breaking into a run and pushing past the Null ARC.

"Hey, wait," A'den yelled, running after him. Taler ran through the crowd, barging anyone out of the way, a trail of complaints and yells in his wake. A'den was keeping pace with him until they ducked down a dark alleyway and he reached out and grabbed him, turning him sharply around and forcing him to stop.

"Let me go," Taler yelled.

"I can't," A'den countered, not loosening his grip.

"I have to warn him," Taler growled.

"I can't let you go," A'den began. But he never finished the sentence. Taler had had enough. With one fluid motion, he knocked A'den's hand aside and aimed a punch at his jaw. A'den leaned back to avoid it, but it was the opening that Taler needed, and he brought his boot in hard against A'den's stomach. The Null ARC took the hit and bent double, Taler's knee racing up towards his face. A'den kicked down against the ground and threw himself forwards. The knee caught him in the stomach again, but it missed his face as he barrelled into Taler, wrapping his arms around his waist and lifting him off the floor before slamming him bodily onto the ground.

Taler let out a grunt as the wind was forced from his lungs and he struggled to breath. A'den knelt up, wheezing himself, and grabbed hold of Taler by his collar.

"Stop and think," A'den said breathlessly. "It's bigger than this. You were being tracked by the Grand Army. That device I destroyed was a locator chip. They were closing in on your position."

"How do you know?" Taler whispered, unable to speak.

"Because it was me they sent to find you," A'den growled. Taler's eyes widened with realisation. A'den released his grip on Taler and stood up. "You were one of the first to pop up on the grid after Geonosis. Hundreds of closed were left alive on the planet after that battle, but you were the first. The Grand army don't like having lose ends."

"What do you mean?" Taler said, sitting himself up, taking deeper breaths as his lungs began to fill again.

"I was assigned to find you, because you are a high value asset," A'den said, leaning against the wall. "You are a commando, and of a limited run." Taler felt anger inside him again. He was being spoken of as though he was nothing more than a droid. And it hurt to hear those words coming from his own voice.

"So what?"

"Others came up on the grid too," A'den continued. "Some were found and returned. Some were found dead, killed by Separatists weapons. But others…"

"What?"

"Their signals vanished." A'den looked at the floor between his feet. "I can't prove anything, but I think someone is killing clones who leave the GAR."

Both stood in silence for long moment before Taler dragged himself up off the floor.

"I have to warn Kyr'am about what's coming," Taler said quietly. "I owe him that much."

"If you go, and the GAR finds you again, I won't be able to help you," A'den said warningly. Taler looked at him and nodded.

"If the roles were reversed, and it was Kal, wouldn't you do everything you could to help him?" Taler asked. A'den's eyes widened for a moment before he sighed.

"Go," A'den said.

"Thank you," Taler said quietly. Turning, he grabbed his kit bag from the floor and ran down the alleyway, vanishing into the gloom.

* * *

"A'den," a voice said quietly from the comlink that he held in his hand.

"Go ahead, Prudii," A'den replied.

"You found him then?"

"Affirmative," he said.

"What you going to tell S.O?"

"Trail went cold," A'den whispered. "I'm not sure I want to be telling them anything. If they are doing what I think they are doing…"

"There's no proof of that."

"Yet."

"Should we tell Kal and Darman?"

"No," A'den said quietly. "They've got enough on their minds as it is."


	4. Chapter 4

**Part 4**

 **Into the Storm**

 _"_ _Cabur Aliit"_

 _Mandalore_

 _Mandalore System_

Jenna sat patiently in the holding cell in the basement of the complex. Her hands were still bound behind her back, though the pain of having her nose broken and then reset still spread across her face like a pulsating mask. If anyone had done that to her in the past, she would have spent the time since thinking of the multitude of ways that she could get her revenge on then, paying them back for each bit of pain that they had caused her, making sure they felt every single one.

But now she did not feel that. She simply stared out into the gloom of the basement room, confusion and doubt flooding her mind.

For almost an hour she had been listening to the frantic movements in the bunker. The crews of the two ships that had landed there had been emptying the building of all its useful supplies. Crates had been dragged out from in front of her, and had been hauled up the stairs. Everything that was not tied down, or of some value, had been removed. She was no left in an empty room, the door hanging open, and silence had descended.

This gave her too much time to think.

Memories of the past two weeks flooded her mind and it was almost as though they were being projected by her mind onto the distant walls. Chasing Kyr'am across the outer rims, always being one step behind and having to make excuses to Soruu. Finally getting a break and finding them on Hoth. Being knocked unconscious – she would have rather forgotten that part. Waking up in a cell. Biding her time, waiting for the opportunity to escape and strike.

But then, she had been derailed.

A contract had always been a contract. Price was set, target was named. She didn't care what they had done, she didn't care who they were. She found them, she trapped them, she delivered them. It was how she worked. Credits were credits as far as she was concerned, whether the one paying her was legit or had a bit of a dodgy reputation.

But now she was having doubts about turning Kyr'am in. She knew that she could escape again, and make a clean getaway this time – it had only been what she had heard that had distracted her long enough for the other female Mando to get the slip on her. But if she did, could she bring herself to taking Kyr'am in, knowing that the reason he had been targeted by Soruu in the first place, was because he had done something good, something right?

The light from the door was suddenly blocked out, and Jenna turned towards it. The open doorway was filled with the silhouette of a figure, a long coat hanging down around his knees, dripping water over the hard floor. He lifted his hand to the panel beside the door and pressed a button. All at once, the containment field that surrounded the cell flickered into nothing and vanished, the hum of the emitters fading into silence. The figure tossed a bag onto the floor in front of her, and it clattered noisily as it landed.

"Here's the deal," Kyr'am said, stepping into the room and squatting down in front of her, the light from the doorway spreading across half of his face, his eyes looking directly into hers. "Someone has told a very angry man where I live, and we are now being surrounded by an unknown number of Hydra corp soldiers. I need your help."

Jenna looked at him with suspicion. She had been tasked with taking him in to a being who presumably would torture him and then kill him for an insult he suffered over a decade before, and yet here he was, asking for her help. Was this some kind of bargaining chip? Was it a trap to get her killed?

"What about your other friends?" Jenna asked in return, maintaining her mask of confidence while inside she was wracked with uncertainty.

"I've sent them away," Kyr'am said simply. "I'm not having them risk their lives for something I did wrong."

"So, I'm expendable?" Jenna asked, raising an eyebrow.

"You're an unknown," Kyr'am said plainly.

"Why not just cut your losses and make for the rim?" Jenna said, all the possible escape routes that she would have tired flashing through her mind.

"I can't move that fast with you in cuffs, and I'm not going to leave you here to starve," Kyr'am said slowly. "No one deserves to die like that. At least this way you get a fighting chance."

"So what's the deal?" Jenna asked.

"I set you free. I give you back all of your kit, and you help me keep them distracted long enough for my friends to make it to orbit and the jump to hyperspace. We make a break for my ship, and assuming that we make it out alive, I will then turn myself over to you to do with as you wish."

She could not believe what she was heading. Kyr'am had just given her a way out of it all by promising to give himself up to her, and letting her take him back to Soruu, despite knowing what that vile slug would do to him if he ever caught him. He was either desperate, or he had something else planned.

"How do I know you won't just make a run for it?" Jenna said, looking at him with distrust.

"You have my word," Kyr'am said clearly. His eyes did not flicker. He must have been one hell of a Sabbac player, Jenna thought. But there was something in his eyes that she had never seen before. Conviction. He was being truthful. In his eyes, she could see that he meant every word.

"Okay," she said quietly.

A sad smile crossed Kyr'am's face. He knew that he had just signed his own death warrant, and had willingly handed the blaster to the executioner. But he also knew that there was no other way. He moved around behind her and began to undo the stun cuffs around her wrists.

"Got any numbers?" she asked.

"Three transport ships, each probably capable of carrying up to twenty heavily armoured grunts, all stacked to the gills with blasters and rifles. Two ships to the west and one circling around to the south." A loud click echoed through the room as the cuffs deactivated and fell away from her wrists. Jenna stood up and began to put on her armour. "We need to keep their attention here for a minimum of eight minutes to give the Stormchaser a chance to make orbit."

She stopped and looked back at Kyr'am.

"Is that all?" she said sarcastically.

"Didn't want to make it too difficult for ya," Kyr'am said with a soft smile.

"Sounds like fun," Jenna lied.

* * *

Dugg was sat in the cockpit of the Stormchaser with the drives rapidly spinning into life, the rumble of the engines rippling through the hull of the ship, the deck plating beneath his feet vibrating harshly. The ship was relatively new – compared to the Trailbreaker – but it had seen some action in its life with Dugg as the captain. It had not quite been the same since their little encounter at Mallastare. The thought brought a twinge of pain to Dugg's side, and he put his arm across his stomach, rubbing where his kidney should have been.

"All secured," G'hrunk's voice barked out from down the corridor. Dugg looked up and over his shoulder to see the giant creature looking back at him. "Juel and Haze are in the life boat, and Maghi is just locking down the last of the supplies."

"Roger that," Dugg said turning back to the controls and tapping a button on the comms array. "Kyr'am, we will be air ready in two minutes. I'm guessing I still can't make you change your mind and come with us?" The signal crackled loudly as the enviro-drive storm that was overhead interrupted the comlink.

"You know me better than that, old friend," Kyr'am's voice said quietly. "Besides, we need to buy you as much time as we can down here. Remember you still have a ship in orbit to deal with."

"Oh yeah," Dugg said with a crooked smile. "Thanks for reminding me."

There was a long moment of silence as the comlink crackled noisily, and the rain hammered against the hull and view screen. Kyr'am cleared his throat and spoke again.

"Make sure you keep them safe," he said quietly. Dugg fell silent. He had done the math as well, and he knew that – even as good as Kyr'am was at his job – there was no way of getting out of this. It was a one way ticket.

"I will," Dugg said, and for the first time there was not a trace of humour or sarcasm in his voice. "I promise."

"Thank you, old friend," Kyr'am said. "One last thing. When you're out there, can you keep an eye out for Ta…" His words were cut off by a sudden explosion near the edge of the clearing. A brilliant ball of white hot flames erupted, and a billowing cloud of smoke raced across the landing pad.

"Dioxis grenade," Dugg yelled, leaning across the controls to stare out through the view screen. "Seal every hatch," he barked, slapping a button on the control panel. He turned quickly and looked down at Kyr'am who was standing at the top of the ramp, rushing to slip his helmet on and seal his suit.

"Get out of here," Kyr'am yelled up at him, waving for him to take off. Dugg waited a few moments, every fibre of his being screaming at him to jump out and fight alongside Kyr'am. But he had made a promise to protect the others, and he was always a man of his word.

"Good luck, ner vod," he said, dropping into the pilot seat and kicking the thrusters to full. The ship shuddered and the downblast from the repulsor drives blew away the gas cloud that had spread across the landing pad.

As the ship lifted above the treeline, he swung the nose away and pointed it towards the sky, looking back once more through the view screen and seeing Kyr'am standing on the permacrete with both blasters drawn, emptying bolt after bolt into the oncoming army.

* * *

Taler felt the first drops of rain slap against his skin as he neared the edge of the forest that surrounded Cabur Aliit, the enviro-drive storm planted firmly over the bunker, shielding it from space. He skimmed the cliff edge that looked down at the forest, the ground falling away from the edge of the path to the forest floor a hundred feet below. The wind was whipping at his face, the scarf he had pulled up over his mouth long since been ripped off by the clawing air as it rushed by. He squinted through the rain, his brow creases deepening with each passing second.

Something was off about the clouds that were washing across the forest. He skidded the bike to a stop and wiped the water from his forehead, looking down at the valley floor. The light grey mist that hugged the floor around the bunker was like marble, a darker, more sinister looking smog swirling within it. Taler grabbed the microbinocs from the pouch on the side of the speeder bike and turned them up to maximum magnification. The smog was flashing, like lightning bursts within a cloud. With each red flash, he could see figures darting through. The wind was howling in his ears, but something else grew stronger within it. A deep rumbling noise echoed up through the forest, and Taler watched as the mist parted and the top of a Consular class cruiser lifted clear, like a leviathan breaching the waves.

He watched as it rose through the storm, its dorsal mounted canons turning and firing into the clouds to the west, a distant explosion lighting up the clouds as something unseen erupted in a blinding ball of light. It hovered about a hundred feet above the bunker, blaster fire firing up from the smog beneath.

Taler turned his microbinocs back to the tree level, waiting for the Trailbreaker to rise.

But it did not.

* * *

Jenna broke through the doorway of the bunker and edged her way up the access ramp towards the landing pad. As she emerged – now wearing her armour again – she ducked behind the nearest cover she could find, leaning out to see what lay beyond. She could not see much as the wave of dioxis and mist still rippled across the landing pad in the wake of the Stormchaser taking off. Near the centre of the landing pad, she could see the silhouette of Kyr'am standing there, bot weapons spewing bolt after red hot bolt into the white nothingness.

Blinking at her HUD, she activated the thermal scanners and watched as figures began to appear in the fog. Ten, then twenty, then more and more as each passing sweep dug deeper into the blinding mess. The tail of the Trailbreaker was glowing red as well, and inside she could see the unmistakable shape of an astromech droid in the cockpit. Usually they did not show up on thermal scans, but this one was so faulty that it seemed to be constantly overheating.

The ship was ready for take-off. It was her ticket out of there. She could jump on board, immobilize the droid again, and take the ship for herself. After all, she knew that there was no way they would win this fight. Where was the point in them both dying?

But where would she go? Soruu had undoubtedly already put a bounty on her head for failing him. She knew some places where she could go for a while, but she would always be running. A life on the run was still a life. Her mind was set.

She made a run for the loading ramp of the Corellian freighter. But something in the corner of her HUD caught her eye. One of the distant figures had thrown something, and it went sailing high through the air. She turned towards it and saw that it was a thermal grenade.

"Kyr'am, look out," she cried.

He looked up just in time to see it, and he lifted his hands to shield his face. The small sphere ripped itself apart in a blossoming explosion, the golden light flooding the smoke. Jenna watched as Kyr'am was thrown backwards across the landing pad, his body slamming into the permacrete and rolling to a standstill.

He did not move.

Blaster bolts continued to lance through the air around her, and she could see the Trailbreaker's loading ramp only feet away from her. Her eyes darted from the advancing army towards the still body of Kyr'am. She had a way out. She had her escape.

Her instinct told her to run, but her heart screamed something else. She did the only thing she could do.

* * *

An explosion shook the trees around the edges of the clearing, and Taler had to shield his eyes as it was magnified through his microbinocs. He blinked away the blindness that was clawing at the edges of his eyes and dashed towards the edge of the cliff.

"Come on," Taler hissed to himself, lifting the microbinocs back up to his face, his eyes still locked on the forest beneath the Consular class cruiser. "What are you waiting for?"

He waited, willing the Trailbreaker to smash through the clouds and dart up into space, the smog swirling into vortexes in its wake. He waited to see Kyr'am piloting the ship, his eyes locked on the distant sky.

He waited, and then waited even longer, but nothing moved.

The Consular class cruiser began to turn towards the mountains behind Taler, the nose pointing towards him, the canons still tracking through the clouds as return fire hammered into the hull, leaving black marks all over the orange paint. Taler dropped the microbinocs and stared in disbelief at the ship as it began to move towards him, the engines flaring like blue haloes behind it.

"Don't leave," he yelled. "No, wait! What are you doing?"

The ship gained speed, the canon still strafing the clouds with turbo laser fire.

"Kyr'am," Taler yelled.


	5. Chapter 5

**Part 5**

 **Hell's Fire**

 _"_ _Cabur Aliit"_

 _Mandalore_

 _Mandalore System_

Dugg felt the explosion rock the side of the ship as more and more turbo laser fire lanced through the clouds towards them. He pulled hard on the controls and was about to make a break for orbit when Madhi appeared by his side. She leaned over his shoulder and glared out through the view screen.

"Not that I don't enjoy your invasion of my personal bubble," Dugg began, but he was soon silenced as Madhi's hand shot out and pointed towards the mountain range on the edge of the forest.

"There," she said simply, before turning around and vanishing through the hatch towards the centre of the ship. Dugg looked out at the mountain range and could not see what she had seen, but he knew better than to question her. He looked back over his shoulder and caught a glimpse of her heel as she stepped into the ladder well, sliding down towards the loading bay beneath.

"I'll just take us that way then shall I?" he called back sarcastically. Turning back to the controls, he adjusted course towards the mountain range and tried to squint through the clouds to see what had taken her attention. He could see nothing, he could barely even see the mountain.

The thrusters kicked violently into life and the ship lunged forwards, vibrating as more shots peppered the upper and lower hull.

Footsteps echoed through the corridor behind him, and as he turned he saw the Sullustan standing in the doorway.

"What can I do?" he demanded, staggering into the wall as another shot rocked the ship.

"The big guy isn't much good with turbo lasers," Dugg said casually. "Grab a turret and start blasting."

"You got it," Juel said quickly, turning and vanishing down the corridor.

Even before he had a chance to turn around, Dugg was deafened by an alarm that tore through the cockpit. Looking across the console in front of him, he saw the warning that the loading ramp had been lowered. He flicked the internal cams to show the loading bay on the screen to his right and saw Madhi standing on the end of the ramp, holding onto the hydraulic rams that lowered and raised it.

"Madhi, what the hell are you doin?" he barked over the comlink. All he got in return was the sound of the wind as it tore through the loading bay.

He watched as she looked down through the clouds and then turned towards the camera. She tapped two fingers to her temple, her shoulder length brown hair whipping across her Mandalorian-style mask, then took a step back and vanished through the open hatch.

"Go," her voice said simply, broken by the rushing wind.

Dugg looked up ahead and his eyes widened. The mountain top emerged from the clouds in front of him, looming up over the top of the ship. They were too low.

" _Shab_ ," Dugg hissed, pulling back hard on the yolk and sending the nose of the cruiser up towards the sky. The belly of the metal beast scraped the tip of the mountain as the engines roared. Dugg hit the controls and the loading ramp sealed itself up.

"One day, Madhi," he whispered to himself, "you will be the death of me." Another volley of turbo laser fire lanced through the air beneath them, and Dugg red lined the engines as they tore through the clouds and broke out into space.

* * *

Taler felt the rumbling of the cruiser as it passed overhead, and heard the jarring, metallic cry as it scraped across the summit of the mountain. Boulders and dust rained down from above as he shielded his eyes, and he heard a rushing sound, followed by an explosive _woosh_. Turning back to look at where the speeder bike was still parked on the path, he found himself looking at a red armour-clad figure standing beside it, her arms crossed, the smoke from her jet pack dissipating into the wind.

"Madhi?" Taler asked confused, looking from her to the skies above them where the roar of the Consular cruiser was growing quieter by the second.

"My bike," she said simply, walking towards it.

"I know, I'm sorry," Taler stammered quickly. "But what's going on? Where's Kyr'am?" he asked.

Madhi looked over his shoulder back towards the bunker. Another loud explosion ripped across the valley, and as Taler turned back to look, he saw flames ripping through the clouds at the centre of the landing pad. He lifted his microbinocs to his eyes again and scanned across the forest, but there was still no sign of any other ship.

"No," he growled. For the first time in his life, he felt helpless. He was a soldier, and here he was, scared he was going to lose the fight. "We have to save him." He turned to face Madhi, and found her already sitting astride the speeder bike's saddle.

"I drive," she said simply. Taler ran towards the bike and leapt on behind her. She hardly paused before she kicked the repulsor drives into high and sent the bike soaring off the edge of the cliff down towards the forest.

* * *

Jenna was half way to the bunker ramp with Kyr'am's arm draped over her shoulder when she felt the heat of the explosion race past her, the pleasure yacht that had been parked beside the freighter erupting into a ball of flames, sending burning debris all over the permacrete landing pad. She turned to place herself between Kyr'am and the explosion and, as the flames spread like orange tendrils through the smog, she felt it grab at her leg. In that moment, the shockwave picked them up and threw them through the air, slamming them both into the floor as they tumbled through the door to the bunker.

She slapped her hands wildly at her leg as it was still alight, each hit sending searing pain through her calf. The flames extinguished, she looked up the ramp and could see figures moveing towards them through the smoke. She was struggling to breath and the pain from her leg was spreading all the way through her body, burning as though the flames were coursing through her skin. Crawling back to where Kyr'am had landed a few feet away, she dragged him the last few feet inside the door.

"You're heavier than you look," she growled through gritted teeth. She reached up and slammed her fist against the door controls. The bulkhead slammed down from the ceiling and blocked the doorway, but she knew that it would not hold for long.

Taking a moment to breath, she sat Kyr'am up and hooked her arms under his, wrapping them around his chest and dragging him through to the main central chamber. She rested him down against the side of the door, with enough cover to keep him safe.

A loud thud echoed down the empty corridor. Jenna's eyes snapped up to the bulkhead. Another thud wrung against the metal door as the attacking soldiers tried to break it down. Eventually, it would give. Looking behind her, she saw the large, thick wooden table and made a dahs for it, every step on her burnt leg feeling like a fresh wave of hell. Adrenalin flooded her body and dulled the pain, but not enough to make her forget about it.

Tipping the table up, she pushed it towards the door to act as a makeshift barricade. It would give her limited cover, but it was better than nothing.

Another thud echoed through the bunker.

Jenna drew her blasters from their holsters, and checked the charge levels. Reaching into the pouch on the belt at the base of her spine, her fingers closed around two small spherical objects which she pulled out and placed on the floor beside her. Two thermal disintegrators. One for the enemy, and if there was no other way out, one for them.

"You owe me big time," she whispered to Kyr'am, who lay unconscious beside her.

Another thud, and another, and another. Each one sounding like an explosion.

She levelled her blaster on the doorway, steadying her shaking hands with the edge of the table. They would not take her without a fight. She would have to make every single shot count.

"Come on," she growled.

A blinding white flash ripped through the corridor and the metal bulkhead vanished, replaced by a sea of flamed that rushed towards them.

* * *

Taler leapt off the back of the speeder bike as it broke through the edge of the forest onto the landing pad, tucking his knees tightly against his chest and rolling across the permacrete. Half way through the roll, he dropped his hand to the blaster on his right, his left hand grabbing the blade that had been hidden in his boot. As he ended the roll, he kicked down hard, lifting himself into a run, and throwing himself at the nearest solders who had only just realised that he was near. Slashing out with his blade, he tore through one's throat before spinning around and breaking another's jaw with a high kick. Bringing his blaster to bear, he squeezed the trigger and unleashed bolt after searing bolt into the unexpecting army.

To his right, he saw Madhi plough the speeder bike into another group of soldiers, the pointed end burying itself in the chest of two Aqualish heavies. As the bike came to a sudden halt, she somersaulted off the saddle and barrelled into the other thugs. Grabbing hold of one and spinning him around like a meat shield, she blocked a dozen blaster bolts as she drew her own pistol. Rushing forward, she then threw the dead body into a group of three other soldiers, knocking them down and emptying a poser clip full of blaster bolts into the row behind.

Taler took down two, then three, then four soldiers in quick succession, the element of surprise keeping their enemy off balance, but it would not last long.

The smouldering remains of the star yacht was ablaze, and fire was rapidly consuming the edges of the clearing, the mist and fog becoming darker as the smoke from the growing forest fire took hold. A gust of wind opened up the mist and Taler saw through to the bunker. Twelve men were rushing down the ramp towards the charred remains of the door.

"Madhi," he yelled, nodding his head towards the door.

"Go," she yelled back, grabbing a Weequay by the head and slamming her own temple hard against his face. A burst of red erupted from his nose as he fell limp to the floor.

Taler tackled two mercenaries who stood in his way, flattening both to the floor, firing a bolt into ones chest and burying his blade in the others ribs. He scrambled to his feet, and darted for the bunker.

* * *

Jenna ducked back down behind the charred table, looking around the once tidy sitting room. The walls were covered in blaster marks, and fire was slowly spreading through the bunker. There was debris and burning furniture all around the room, and the smoke billowed up to be caught by the low ceiling. Slipping another charge cell into the grip of her blaster pistol, she tried to slow her breathing. She was starting to run low on ammunition and her eyes darted down to the thermal disintegrators by her side.

"Not yet," she whispered to herself, taking another deep breath, before spinning around and firing another volley into the bottleneck that she had created with the corridor. Bodies lay on the floor where they had fallen, but more and more soldiers pushed through, almost as though there were no end to them.

The bolts flew wildly around her, some slamming into the blackened table in front of her, others high over her head. But some were a little too close for comfort, searing the air around her helmet. The table began to break, and chunks flew all around her. One stray bolt tore through the table top, and she felt it slam into the gap between her chest plate and her shoulder. It burnt through the undersuit and it tore through her shoulder. The force slammed her backwards, crashing to the floor.

She cried out in pain, her screams muffled by the helmet, her burnt leg bent beneath her.

"Rubble stick," a voice barked from down the corridor. Jenna's eyes shot open and, looking up, she saw a cylinder fly over her head. She knew it was too late. The red light on the side blinked out, and the whole room was filled with a rushing wind, and a thunderous shockwave.

The ground beneath her cracked as the power of the blast slammed into the permacrete, and the ceiling above her shattered, bits of mortar falling down around her, and a large girder breaking free and crashing onto her leg. She felt the bone break, and screamed.

"Son of a…" she hissed. She was pinned down. The flames from outside had joined those inside, and the smoke grew thicker with each passing second. Lifting herself painfully, she craned her neck to look across to where Kyr'am lay. He was still slumped against the wall, bits of ceiling lying across him, half buried beneath a collapsed wall.

A figure appeared in the doorway and looked down across the floor. He saw Jenna. Another appeared, and another, until five of them stood among the rubble, their blasters pressed against their shoulder as they swept them across the smoke filled room. Jenna tried to reach up for her blaster that had fallen from her hand, but it was just out of reach. The thugs laughed, the lead soldier turning towards Kyr'am, kicking a few shards of debris out of the way to be certain it was him. Jenna tried to push the girder off her leg, but it was too heavy. The Hydra Corp grunt ducked down and removed Kyr'am's helmet, tossing it aside as the old man's face came into view. His greying hair was tussled, but his face was still. Seemingly satisfied, he aimed his blaster at Kyr'am's head and moved his finger to the trigger.

"No!" she screamed.

* * *

Taler lunged forwards through the smoke and grabbed hold of the soldiers head with both hands, snapping it aside viciously and breaking his neck with a loud crack. His body fell limply to the floor. The other four soldiers in the room turned to look at him before they were mown down by green blaster bolts that tore through the smoke. Madhi emerged through the door behind him.

"Kyr'am," Taler said in a panic, kneeling down and checking his pulse by pressing his fingers against his neck. It was faint, but it was there. "He's alive." He whispered. Grabbing the bits of debris that had fallen on him, and patting the patches of his coat that had caught fire, he dragged the unconscious man from the rubble and lifted him up, draping one arm over his shoulder. Madhi slipped in beside him, taking the rest of his weight.

They turned towards the door.

"Hey, wait," a voice called from the smoke. "Help me, please." Taler looked back over his shoulder and on the floor, pinned by a girder, he could see the female Mando who up until recently had been their captive. He wanted to leave her there, after the trouble that she had caused. But something in his chest would not stop aching.

The memory of Straen Lok flashed across his eyes – an Ithorian who was caught in the crossfire between himself and Hydra Corp heavies. He had died because he was not given a chance to fight back. And Taler knew that the female Mandalorian would die there too. The least he could do was give her a fighting chance. It's what Kyr'am would do, he thought.

"You can't leave me here," she cried.

"Take him," Taler said to Madhi. "Get him to the ship and get ready to leave."

Madhi nodded, taking all the weight of Kyr'am and dragging him out through the burning doorway. Taler turned back towards the female Mando and crouched down near the girder, slipping his arms beneath it and lifting. It was heavy, and it was hot as the heat of the flames cooked the metal. His flesh fingers burnt, but his metallic ones stayed strong. Using all the strength he had, Taler lifted it an inch.

The female Mando dragged her leg free of the girder and Taler let it fall. More debris rained down from the ceiling as the bunker began to collapse.

"Can you walk?" Taler yelled.

"No," she hissed in return. The ceiling creaked ominously, and Taler knew they only had seconds. Reaching down, Taler scooped her up and dragged her quickly towards the door, dashing through before it collapsed in a fiery cloud of dust. They ran through the corridor and out up the access ramp onto the landing pad.

Blaster bolts continued to flash through the smog, lancing the sky around them. The Trailbreaker was hovering a few feet off the ground, and Taler looked up to see Madhi in the cockpit. The comlink on his belt crackled loudly and her voice yelled from it.

"Get in," she barked. Taler tightened his grip on the female Mandalorian and darted for the ship, throwing them both onto the loading ramp as it began to lift. It sealed into place with a reassuring hiss, and they rolled down it, coming to a stop in the cargo bay.

"We're in!" Taler yelled. "Go!"

The ship pitched upwards, and the drives rumbled into a high pitched scream.

They were away from the fight. They were away from Mandalore.

Taler could now breath.


End file.
